A Decade With No Income Gains

The typical American household made less money last year than the typical household made a full decade ago.

To me, that’s the big news from the Census Bureau’s annual report on income, poverty and health insurance, which was released this morning. Median household fell to $50,303 last year, from $52,163 in 2007. In 1998, median income was $51,295. All these numbers are adjusted for inflation.

Read it all at the Economix Blog - NYTimes.com

McKinsey: Health care and US income disparities

As US health care costs rise, so do insurance premiums and the amount of money employers spend on them—from 1996 to 2005, the average contribution rose by 5 percent a year in real terms, to $5,068. Some employers are rescinding health care benefits altogether, while others are limiting the number of eligible employees, so enrollment in employer-paid schemes is stagnating or declining, according to a McKinsey Global Institute study. This research also reveals growing disparities in the percentage of employees at different income levels receiving employer-paid health benefits: only 22 percent of employees in the lowest income group (earning an average of $14,800 a year), but 56 percent, 81 percent, and 89 percent of those in the lower-middle, upper-middle, and top income groups, respectively.

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How health care costs contribute to income disparity in US

The McKinsey Quarterly - health care costs income disparity US - Economic Studies - Country Reports

Over the past 50 years, US workers have come to expect employers to pay for some part of employee health insurance; many consider this an important part of overall compensation. However, recent economic trends have resulted in a growing disparity in health care coverage and affordability. A study by the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) identified three divergent categories of workers that are emerging from trends in health care coverage and income growth.

The top-income category (earning on average $210,100 annually1) has enjoyed rising incomes and growing employer-paid health care benefits, which have made their out-of-pocket spending on health care a relatively small and affordable portion of total spending. The higher-middle-income category (earning an average of $84,800 annually) and the lower-middle-income group (earning on average $41,500), have also seen increasing benefits and incomes—but at a much slower rate, making the uncovered portion of their health care costs ever-more expensive. In the bottom-income category (earning an average of $14,800 a year), incomes have been stagnant, and their employers are less likely to pay for their health insurance. This group is finding any health care difficult, if not impossible, to afford.